Appointment System in TRICARE Mid-Atlantic Region

摘要

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implementation of a new TRICARE Mid-Atlantic (TMAR) region-wide appointment system to meet the military's managed care health plan (TRICARE) access standards and to meet the Managed Care Support Contract (MCSC) requirements. Issues concerning access to health care under TRICARE including primary care referral options, Military Treatment Facilities (MTF) specialty care availability, and the simplification of the appointment process are discussed. This paper's focus is to discuss TMAR's challenges and solutions for simplifying appointment types. Included are an analysis of the simplified appointment types test site and a synopsis of recommendations for meeting TRICARE Prime access standards. It presents three key strategies that emerged concerning access in the military managed care environment.